


Silent and Smug

by BazOfBakerSt



Category: The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Turmoil, Grief, Heartache, M/M, hurting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:48:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26328151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BazOfBakerSt/pseuds/BazOfBakerSt
Summary: Basil has a late night (one-sided) conversation with Ratigan's portrait. This takes place five years before the film starts.For quick context: Basil and Ratigan met at Oxford University and Ratigan was Basil's teacher and mentor (and secret lover for a while). It's thanks to him that Basil became even more clever, too bad the same skills the professor had taught Basil over the course of five years are being used against him now by the detective in a twist of tragic irony.More will be revealed about what happened between them as you read along. At the time this scene takes place, it would have been a total of ten years they knew each other, five years of being lovers and five years being enemies.
Relationships: Basil of Baker Street/Padraic Ratigan
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	Silent and Smug

The pitter patter of rain could be heard hitting against Basil's common room window, another dismal night in London, complete with rumbling thunder in the distance and the bluster of wind picking up on and off outside. Funny that the weather tonight should reflect the detective's inner turmoil, one he had felt since he parted ways from the love of his life, from his beloved mentor. 

Mrs. Judson had already retired for the night, but Basil was busy pacing before the fireplace in a nervous fashion, too jittery to sleep. A quickened heart rate, coupled with a speeding pulse and an ever racing mind kept the mouse alert and distressed once again. Same story, different night. But he's grown used to losing sleep by now – adrenaline usually kept him going as well as that fiery persistence he was so well known for. 

He suddenly stopped, facing his red armchair, and a sigh escaped his lips as he looked down, eyes half lidded and filled with melancholy. “...Aren't you tired of this by now, Padraic?” He turned his gaze upwards to the mantle of his fireplace, to the portrait of the figure in question – Professor Padraic Ratigan. His wayward lover and mentor had given him this portrait six years ago, and five years ago they parted after a bitter and terrible quarrel that, to this day, Basil still held deep regrets over. If only he had handled it better back then... 

That night, after Ratigan had been framed at the University he taught at as a true professor (the first of his kind to obtain such a position, given that rats had always been treated as lower class citizens and criminals among Mousedom), had decided to turn to a life of crime. If he could not earn the respect and praise of mice as a generous and kindly professor, then he would become the villain they would all fear, he would earn their adoration through intimidation and bloodshed, he would take from all of them just as they took so much from him. 

Basil turned to fully face the portrait, the rat's countenance a rather smug smile yet his eyes seemed so tranquil as they looked upon Basil, the same sort of gaze Padraic had always given him those many years ago. The mouse had his hands clasped behind his back but he dropped his arms to his sides now, and he moved closer to the portrait, feeling the spitting heat from the fire that burned in the hearth. 

“I told you to wait!” Basil spoke with a soft but disheartened voice, his expression one of pure anguish. “I wanted to clear your name, I knew full well you didn't do it! Those other professors, I saw their victorious sneers after you had been dismissed from Oxford. I was on your side, Padraic, didn't you realize that?” He placed his hands on the mantle, but was mindful of the fire burning below it. 

“You said you wanted to be praised and respected...I respected you, I adored you! I loved you! I gave you my heart, my soul, my entire being! What I am now, so clever and quick to deduce others, I owe it all to you, my love! And I wanted to show the whole world the gracious and giving rat that you were, that I know you still are deep down even now as you terrorize London in your chaotic madness...even as your arrogance drives you to seize power and glory for yourself. God above, you are so dangerously delusional!" 

Lightning suddenly cracked loudly just outside of his window and it startled him, enough to make him jump back from the mantle with a gasp, nearly tripping over his own feet in the process. But wait - did he just catch a glimpse of sharp teeth in that portrait for a split second?! No...no, that was silly. It was just the sudden flash of lightning coming in through the window playing tricks on him! It had to be. 

He took a moment to catch his breath, hand over his heart as he composed himself from the fright he just had. The recovery was not long, and he walked back up to the portrait with a more defiant gaze now, a scowl tugging at his lips. 

“Padraic, you are an absolute fool of a brute!” He scolded as he glared up at the silent and smug-looking portrait, “What were you thinking?! Turning to a life of crime, when you had one mouse right here that would have defended you and fought for you! And you threw it all away! Why? Out of pride, out of wrath, out of insanity? You must be daft! You have to be! The rat I loved, and who returned my love, would never consider such a path! He couldn't...he wouldn't...!” 

Tears suddenly welled up in Basil's eyes, and he clenched his hands into fists for a moment, shutting his eyes as he began to weep quietly. The rain grew heavy outside, and the wind knocked against his window as it quickly flew by. He opened his eyes after a pause and looked up into that face, still the same, never changing – forever silent. 

“...Padraic...I need you.” He finally spoke, his voice broken and full of grief. He stepped towards the mantle once more and looked up into that face. “You were my lighthouse: my guiding light to find my way back to shore. And...since you've been gone...I have been trapped in darkness, and I cannot find my way! I'm stumbling in the black of night, my love, I'm...I'm lost!” he sobbed out, his shoulders shaking as he wept heavily before the portrait. 

“So many times I have asked myself, what would Padraic do? So many times I've said, I wish Padraic were here, he would know the most clever way to handle this situation. Being in your arms made me feel so safe, so warm and protected from all of the evils of this world. Now, my bed is cold and empty; I can no longer sleep in it and haven't since the last time you slept at my side, my love. This chair beside me acts as my bed now, as it is the closest thing to you in this flat, because I'd like to think you're still watching over me even after all these years.” 

He looked away, and the rain began to let up a little bit outside as he smiled a bit, though it was a forlorn one. “Heh...it's almost like you're watching over me as I sleep out here. At the very least, I shall take comfort in that.” He plopped himself down onto his red armchair and stared up at the ceiling, the thunder rumbling in the Heavens above, much closer now. 

“I love you so much, and I miss you just as equally.” He said, tilting his head a bit to look at the portrait of his love, hopelessness settling in. “The ache I feel in my heart, in my soul, Padraic...it makes me want to die, honestly. There are many days where I cannot bear it. I would rather be shot or stabbed in the chest, put me down swiftly, for this heartache and longing are a constant Hell for me. Do you even realize such a thing? Would you even care? Are you relishing in my suffering, my love, since I refused to go and join you in your new criminal life?”

Basil went to grab his violin, but he decided not to play it. Even his favorite instrument couldn't promise him comfort from his deep sorrow. He wiped at his eyes and forced himself to stand back up, walking closer to the portrait and looking up at it with a defeated glance. “Were I not so bound to my duty, my honor, Padraic...I would have surely gone with you that night. You must understand...you went down a path I could not follow, but God above I wanted to! I wanted you to whisk me away, to carry me off like a knight would a princess so that we could live in love and sin for the rest of our days.” 

The window shuddered a bit from the sudden wind gust that swept by, but was that the sound of Ratigan's sinister chuckle in that malicious breeze? Basil's fur stood on end and his eyes went wide for a moment...no, it couldn't be! He looked over his shoulder to the window, but nothing was there...and yet, as frightened as he was to hear that phantom laugh, he had hoped someone truly was. 

The detective turned his head back up to Ratigan's silent portrait in contemplative silence for several moments, more thoughts racing through that brilliant mind of his as he pondered over the past and what the future could hold. In the midst of the turbulent monsoon that were his troubled thoughts and deep regrets, only one ideal imagine presented itself to drive away the storm in his mind: he still wanted to share a future with that rat...and he would give anything, DO anything, to achieve that dream and make it a reality. 

A hushed whisper then came from his lips. “Padraic...this may sound absolutely foolish of me, and perhaps it is...but...I want to save you, from yourself. From the wicked madness that has ensnared your mind, that drove us apart in the first place.” 

He straightened up, suddenly feeling new resolve filling his soul, that old familiar fire he was known for filling his teary gaze. “I swear, Padraic, I shall make you see the error of your ways. I'll help you to see that there is still good in you, that all is not lost! And then, when I've accomplished those things, my deepest wish will finally come true: ...that you'll come home, and I shall once again be in your strong embrace, my love. This, I vow.” 

He took the portrait off of the mantle, looking down at it with a tender and loving smile before he leaned down and kissed the painted rat's lips on it lightly, closing his eyes while doing so. After that moment, he opened his eyes and pulled back, and he set the portrait back up on the mantle, Ratigan overlooking the common room with a smug but watchful eye. 

The storm outside finally subsided, slowly but surely, and Basil went to grab his pillow and blanket so he could get some sleep on his chair. He put out the fire in the fireplace, put out any gas lamps, and only the light of the emerging moon from disbanding storm clouds illuminated the room. The sleuth sighed and tucked himself into his chair, and he shifted to look up at the portrait one last time. 

“...Good night, my love. May you have the sweetest dreams tonight, and know not of sadness, pain or care. My heart is yours, and only yours, my darling.” 

With those soft words spoken out loud, the detective curled up in his chair, head resting on the pillow, and he fell asleep; comforted by the painted rat's vigilant gaze as he drifted off. He felt lighter now, getting that all off of his chest...but the longing ache remained for his other half. 

And truly, it always will.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't normally post or write fanfics, at all, this is my first go at it. I usually just Roleplay as Basil and that's it, I normally prefer writing with other people (especially if they play Ratigan, ayyy). 
> 
> This is more of a drabble than anything else but I wanted to contribute this to the small number of Basigan fanfics. Give this ship more representation and stuff cause they need it. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, go easy on me, this is my first time doing anything fic-related.


End file.
